Joshua 21:45  

God always keeps His promises. This is one thing you can be sure of and the principle bulwark of your faith: If the Lord says He is going to do something, then you can stake your life on the fact that He will do it. It is crucial for you to understand this if you want to grow in an intimate relationship with God and walk in the center of His will.

Think about it: in Matthew 16, when Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (vv. 15–16). To this, Jesus declared, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that … upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (vv. 17–18).

Jesus did not mean that the church would be based on Peter; rather, it is founded on the truth that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and the Messiah. Jesus did, however, intend to use Peter and the others to spread the gospel.

Again, relationship was poured into the foundation of God’s work on earth—and it always will be. The Father kept His Word by sending us the Savior who would redeem us, and all the powers of hell could not prevent Him from fulfilling this all-important promise to us. Likewise, nothing can stop Him from keeping every pledge He has made to you.

Joshua 21:45 tells us, “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” This is the basis of your confidence that He will keep His promises for the future—that He will make a home for you in heaven (John 14:2–3), that you will see your believing loved ones there (1 Thess. 4:15–17), and that you will dwell in His presence forever (Rev. 22:3–5). All history testifies to the fact that God always keeps His Word. That’s why you are wise to trust Him.

 The well-known lines of William Blake’s last epic poem “Jerusalem” conjure images of Jerusalem’s first pilgrims: 

 I give you the end of a golden string; 
Only wind it into a ball, 
It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate, 
Built in Jerusalem’s wall.

Several times a year, when it was time to celebrate a festival, crowds of pilgrims would make the trek together toward Jerusalem. Celebrating the Feast of Passover was a command hastening back to the last days of slavery in Egypt, and later reinstated under King Josiah. Many traveled from a great distance, their caravans taking more than a few days to arrive. For some the trip was no doubt long and strenuous, and it would perhaps be understandable if, when the journey was trying, only a drudging sense of obligation moved them forward. Yet, in the Scriptures, not only the feast but the trip itself is described as a time of celebration and worship. 

 The psalmist remembers leading the procession to the house of God “with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.” Elsewhere the writer recalls the presence of God and the fellowship of believers as they walked together among the crowds to Jerusalem. “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.'” The journey itself, though trying or tiring, was an integral part of the festival.(1)

 There are days when the reality of life as a pilgrim moving with the multitudes is as shining as Blake’s golden string. As a Christian, I see myself on a journey in great company, I see signs of the kingdom before me, and like the writer of Hebrews and the ancients ahead of me, I am sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see. But there are also times when I see no golden string and begin to wonder if I was ever really given one, times when I see no sign of the kingdom and wonder if it is really present and among us like he said. On these days I feel more like a lonely wanderer than a voice in the great assembly shouting thanks along the way. 

 But in this imagery of pilgrimage left behind by the psalmist, I believe we find a metaphor to live and hope to proclaim, even when the journey seems most uncertain or tedious. In every season of a life moving toward God, the psalmist shows us that the one we journey toward—and with—is the reality that sets our hearts toward pilgrimage in the first place. In this alone, is there not reason to give thanks along the way? We seek because there is one to find. We follow even in difficulty because God is among the festive throng. Whether in loneliness or in triumph, we are given songs to sing and thanks to voice. And in the Son we find the most hopeful image of a pilgrim, a man who came far from home to pronounce the kingdom among us, and walked forward even unto death to show us into that kingdom. As we move further up and farther in, we are promised that the road is costly, even as he offers a burden that is easy and a yoke that is light.

 As the weary pilgrims of Israel made their ascent to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, they sang with the journey yet on their hearts: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:1-2). It is a stirring image: a great crowd making the ascent to worship God after a long journey already wrought with thanksgiving on their lips. It is all the more stirring to see yourself as one of them: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage” (Psalm 84:5).  

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

 (1) cf. Psalm 42:4, 122:1.

Morning  “He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord.” / Micah 5:4

Christ’s reign in his Church is that of a shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but
it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and loving
flock; he commands and receives obedience, but it is the willing obedience of
the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully to their beloved Shepherd, whose
voice they know so well. He rules by the force of love and the energy of
goodness.

His reign is practical in its character. It is said, “He shall stand and
feed.” The great Head of the Church is actively engaged in providing for his
people. He does not sit down upon the throne in empty state, or hold a sceptre
without wielding it in government. No, he stands and feeds. The expression
“feed,” in the original, is like an analogous one in the Greek, which means to
shepherdize, to do everything expected of a shepherd: to guide, to watch, to
preserve, to restore, to tend, as well as to feed.

His reign is continual in its duration. It is said, “He shall stand and feed;”
not “He shall feed now and then, and leave his position;” not, “He shall one
day grant a revival, and then next day leave his Church to barrenness.” His
eyes never slumber, and his hands never rest; his heart never ceases to beat
with love, and his shoulders are never weary of carrying his people’s burdens.

His reign is effectually powerful in its action; “He shall feed in the
strength of Jehovah.” Wherever Christ is, there is God; and whatever Christ
does is the act of the Most High. Oh! it is a joyful truth to consider that he
who stands today representing the interests of his people is very God of very
God, to whom every knee shall bow. Happy are we who belong to such a shepherd,
whose humanity communes with us, and whose divinity protects us. Let us
worship and bow down before him as the people of his pasture.

Evening  “Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my
strength.” / Psalm 31:4

Our spiritual foes are of the serpent’s brood, and seek to ensnare us by
subtlety. The prayer before us supposes the possibility of the believer being
caught like a bird. So deftly does the fowler do his work, that simple ones
are soon surrounded by the net. The text asks that even out of Satan’s meshes
the captive one may be delivered; this is a proper petition, and one which can
be granted: from between the jaws of the lion, and out of the belly of hell,
can eternal love rescue the saint. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul
from the net of temptations, and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the
snares of malicious cunning, but the Lord is equal to every emergency, and the
most skilfully placed nets of the hunter shall never be able to hold his
chosen ones. Woe unto those who are so clever at net laying; they who tempt
others shall be destroyed themselves.

“For thou art my strength.” What an inexpressible sweetness is to be found in
these few words! How joyfully may we encounter toils, and how cheerfully may
we endure sufferings, when we can lay hold upon celestial strength. Divine
power will rend asunder all the toils of our enemies, confound their politics,
and frustrate their knavish tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless
might engaged upon his side. Our own strength would be of little service when
embarrassed in the nets of base cunning, but the Lord’s strength is ever
available; we have but to invoke it, and we shall find it near at hand. If by
faith we are depending alone upon the strength of the mighty God of Israel, we
may use our holy reliance as a plea in supplication.

“Lord, evermore thy face we seek:

Tempted we are, and poor, and weak;

Keep us with lowly hearts, and meek.

Let us not fall. Let us not fall.”

 You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.  Psalm 31:4

Our spiritual foes belong to the serpent’s brood and seek to ensnare us by subtlety. This prayer presupposes the possibility of the believer being caught like a bird. The catcher does his work so skillfully that simple souls are soon surrounded by the net. The request is that even out of Satan’s snares the captive may be delivered; this is a proper petition, and one that can be granted: eternal love can rescue the saint from between the jaws of the lion and out of the depths of hell. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of temptations and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious cunning, but the Lord is equal to every emergency, and the most skillfully placed nets of the hunter will never be able to hold His chosen ones. There will be grief for those who are so clever at net laying; those who tempt others shall be destroyed themselves.

“For you are my refuge.” What a wonderful encouragement is found in these few words! How joyfully may we encounter toils, and how cheerfully may we endure sufferings when we can lay hold upon the strength of the Lord. Divine power will thwart all the endeavors of our enemies, confound their politics, and frustrate their foolish tricks. Happy is the man who has such matchless might engaged upon his side. Our own strength would serve us poorly when trapped in the nets of our cunning enemy, but the Lord’s refuge is always available; we have only to ask, and we will find it near at hand. If by faith we are depending solely on the strength of the mighty God of Israel, then our dependence may become the occasion of our prayer.

Lord, evermore Thy face we seek:

Tempted we are, and poor, and weak;

Keep us with lowly hearts, and meek.

Let us not fall. Let us not fall.

Family Reading Plan   Jeremiah 48   Psalm 24